Gilligan and Steele are co-owners of the yet-to-open Boatyard Brewing Co., located a few blocks north of Bell's Eccentric Cafe. They planned to open this fall, but are tentatively looking at this spring to start getting their beer on the market.

Kalamazoo Beer Week is a celebration of craft beer with more than 130 events, from food pairings to tap takeovers, happening at various retailers, restaurants, bars and breweries around Kalamazoo through Jan. 18. Instead of participating, the Boatyard owners are trying to spread the word about their business, without beer.

The biggest reason for the delay in opening Boatyard, Steele said, is because a Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety detective failed to submit documents to the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. The documents, which contained the owners' fingerprints and other details, were to have gone through the detective, be signed by Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley and then sent to the state.

Steele said the documents, submitted in June, "sat on a desk" for July, August and September, until the company's lawyers pursued the matter in October. The brewery owners planned to open in September.

Hadley acknowledged the oversight.

“We take all the blame for it getting delayed because it sat on our detective’s desk and didn’t get routed in a proper manner," Hadley said.

He added, “Once we were aware of the delay, we tried to work in a very fast manner to get them what they needed."

Hadley and his department made changes to personnel and the process to avoid future confusion, the chief said.

Steele said Hadley and the Kalamazoo City Commission moved quickly to push the paperwork along once they found out it had been delayed. Commissioners adopted a resolution in mid-October from the Liquor Control Commission that recommended approval of the license for Gilligan-Steele Tasting LLC.

In mid-December, an investigator with the MLCC examined the 2,700-square-foot property at 432 E. Paterson St., Steele said. The Boatyard license is expected to head to a hearing in February, where Steele is optimistic the license will be approved by the state.

The business plan developed by Steele and Gilligan anticipated the license approval to occur in September and that money from investors and the bank would move to the company's account so they could order larger-scale equipment. Without the approval, Steele and Gilligan continue to pay rent on the property and other costs out-of-pocket, Steele said.

Steele, who teaches at Kalamazoo Country Day School, and Gilligan, who is an electrician for Kerwin Electric Inc., estimate it has cost them as much as $8,000.

Steele and Gilligan are long-time homebrewers who continue to make beer on their small homebrew setup. Once approval is reached, Steele said they will order a seven-barrel brewhouse system and start making beer in larger quantities.

Steele said they will sell barrels and growlers on the weekends and hope to expand to new outlets in the spring.

“I expect Boatyard beer to be in bars and restaurants around Kalamazoo at the end of April, beginning of May,” Steele said.

Steele said he's also continuing work on a taproom beside the brewhouse. He expects the project to take several months to complete.